CONTRIBUTIONS TO HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PTEROPHORI. 29 



ductive organs has expired, so that the wings, developing all the 

 while, have no period of sudden quick change like those of the 

 spring brood. The seasons in Europe were probably at one time 

 much more marked, and possibly some of the Mediterranean 

 species arose as summer forms of northern species, or vice versa : 

 for instance, in the genus Gonopteryx. Colias eurythenie, of North 

 America, has in the summer brood an orange patch on the fore 

 wings similar to that of Gonopteryx cleopatra, but the spring 

 emergence has the patch much reduced, and sometimes almost 

 absent, thus resembling G. rhamni. Now, supposing the climate 

 were to become more uniformly cold in the north and warm in 

 the south, these seasonal forms would be transformed into 

 geographical races, and ultimately species. Such may have 

 been the origin of G. rhamni and cleopatra. 



(To be continued,) 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF THE 



BRITISH PTEROPHORI. 



By Richard South, F.E.S. 



(Concluded from vol. xviii., p. 282.) 



As it appears inexpedient to wait until I have found or otherwise 

 obtained all the larvse of plume -moths I still require for figuring 

 and describing, I venture to complete the imago descriptions of 

 British Pterophoridae, and, at the same time, append descriptions of 

 such larvse and pupse as I have met with since my last contribution. 

 Some of these larval descriptions have already been published, 

 in ' British Pyralides,' by Mr. J. H. Leech. As it may interest 

 those who study the Pterophoridte, I may add that coloured 

 figures of all our species are given in the work referred to. 



Before proceeding with the descriptions, I have a few 

 observations to make respecting some of the species noticed in 

 previous papers. 



Platyptilia zetterstedti. 



In a former note (Entom. xviii. 172) I remarked that the 

 insect we knew as zetterstedti was not Zeller's species of that 

 name, and I further questioned the occurrence of zetterstedti, 

 Zell., in this country. In this, however, I think I was partly 

 wrong. I have received other examples of so-called zetterstedti 

 from the Continent ; the latest additions are from Dr. Staudinger, 

 and all are most certainly referable to P. gonodactyla. Now, 

 therefore, it follows that unless Zeller's species is a scarce insect, 

 with which continental entomologists of repute are not well 

 acquainted, and the examples sent me from various sources were 

 all wrongly named, zetterstedti, Zell., sinks as a synonym of 



